Page 12 of Chosen By the Alien King
He sprawled to the ground while I shook out my screaming knuckles.
“Stay down,” I warned, my chest heaving as I fought to catch my breath.
Two pairs of furry handcuffs lay on a nearby trunk, so I picked those up, but I left the leg spreader bar and the colorful assortment of dildos.Didn’t want ol’ Mikey to get the wrong idea.
“Go to hell,” he snarled, spitting blood onto the floor.
But despite his bravado, defeat shone in his eyes—the realization that he had lost our fight because he was a losing loser who loses, and with it, any remaining claim on my life.
“You forget I’ve already been there for the last ten years.”I cuffed his wrist to the nearest bedpost with a satisfying snap of the fuzzy handcuffs.“And for the years I was married to you.”
I hauled his other wrist to the same bedpost and cuffed his other hand there too.Then I cuffed his ankles to another bedpost.
“I’ll be back and I’ll bring my new husband with me,” I said, collecting all the weapons I could find, just in case.“I’m sure he’ll have a lot to say to you.I let you live, but I can’t guarantee he will.I’m sure he’ll put these dildos to good use, and not in a fun, kinky way either.”
I strode toward the bedroom door, leaving him broken and defeated on the cold, unforgiving floor, with the fragments of his shattered ego scattered around him.
“I miss her too, you know,” he croaked out, his voice barely audible.
“Then act like it,” I replied, my voice icy.“Do something right for once in her memory.”
When he didn’t say anything, I turned out the lights on him.
“That’s what I thought,” I added, then left.
I put one shaky foot in front of the other toward the man I loved, the man who offered me a future that was worlds away from the darkness of my past.And I would not let anything stand between us, least of all my shitty ex-husband.
Only he’d hurt me worse than I thought, I realized as I hauled myself out of the beach house.My breaths came out in ragged gasps, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.My right leg hurt like a mother, and my head throbbed.My once pristine starlit dress now bore the stains of my struggle, splotches of red standing out like gruesome flowers against the silvery fabric.
Even though Mike hadn’t killed me, Oreo just might for ruining this dress.
“Maxx,” I whispered, his name giving me strength.“I’m coming.Don’t start without me.”
I probably should’ve stopped in the bathroom to bandage myself up, but the wedding was all that mattered.Maxx and our baby were all that mattered.Nothing could keep me away from our future together.
As I rounded the corner of the beach house, my heart leapt at the sight of Maxx at the makeshift altar a few yards away from me.A grand arch adorned with jungle flowers cascaded over a thick tree trunk, which was the altar itself, and a pulsing, radiant amethyst jewel sat on top.The chairs in perfectly arranged rows twinkled with multicolored fairy lights and luminous flowers, and everyone seated within them were dressed to impress.
The hovering camera drones swiveled to face me and then swept through the air at full speed.Everyone gathered turned to follow their progress, and a murmur rippled through the crowd as they took in the sight of me—bruised and bloodied, but unbroken.
My gaze locked with Maxx’s at the altar as I dropped my weapons and limped closer.He looked so resplendent in a purple cloak, and I…did not.He snapped into a sprint, his lightning eyes flashing with worry and fear.
Several more people raced toward me, but the sun was too bright and the dimming shadows were too dark to see who they were.
In an instant, Maxx was by my side, the first even though he’d been the farthest away.“Nera, what happened?”
“Sorry I’m late,” I replied through gritted teeth, wincing as the pain in my side flared up.My hand rose instinctively to cover the pain in my side, and my fingers came away slicked with crimson.“Got caught in a little, um…traffic.”
Then someone turned the lights out, and I collapsed.
Chapter seven
Maxx
“Nera!”Ilungedtocatch her before she fainted.“Get a doctor!”
Anxiety speared through me at the sight of my bride.What had happened?I’d seen her just a few hours ago when we’d talked to Pete, and now… She looked near death on what should’ve been the happiest day of our lives.
I would fuxxing destroy whoever had done this to her.
